


Meeting

by dreamingdaisies



Series: The Hikari of the Pharaoh [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-29
Updated: 2015-10-29
Packaged: 2018-04-28 20:13:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5104292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingdaisies/pseuds/dreamingdaisies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After waking in ancient Egypt, Yugi meets Pharaoh Atem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of a non-chronological series that switches between Atem, Yami, and Yugi POVs.

Yugi woke to someone prodding his ribs with a broomstick.

His eyes shot open, retinas burning in the intensity of the sun hanging high overhead. Sand shifted between his fingers as jerked to a seated position, his head pounding. He was soaked in sweat, skin blistering in the blanket heat that turned the air into sludge in his lungs.He shielded his eyes, still squinting as he tried to make out the two people standing over him, their figures silhouetted by a clear blue sky stretching overhead.

Panic dropped like a lead weight in his stomach. The last thing he remembered, he had been laying in his bed, the air condition humming as Yami’s mind brushed against his, lulling him to sleep. His eyes burned as he forced them open wider, trying to get his bearings. The landscape was desolate, sand stretching for miles in each direction and interrupted only by an outcropping of a stone ruin a few feet away. _What the…?_

He looked up at the figures above him, making out two male faces as his eyes began to dilate. One of the men, a dark haired man with a scar running across his cheek, barked something at him, and Yugi’s pulse quickened.

“I’m sorry,” Yugi said. “I don’t understand. Do you speak English?” He switched to his native tongue. “Maybe Japanese?”

The man looked at his partner, a scowl crossing his features before turning back, saying something else. The language remained foreign, though it rang with the deep vowels of a Middle Eastern dialect.

Rolling onto his knees, he was halfway to standing when the broomstick jabbed him in the sternum, sending him sprawling back into the sand. He gasped for air as the man started yelling again, rubbing the sore spot on his chest as he willed his lungs to fill with air. _Ouch_. He looked up at the men, realizing that the broomstick wasn’t a broomstick at all but the butt of a spear.

 _Where the heck are we?_ He cupped the Millennium Puzzle hanging from his neck, but there was no answer from his other half. Dread creeped down his spine as he concentrated harder. _Yami?_ Silence. Deafening silence. He was alone. His hands shook. It had been four years since he’d first welcomed Yami into his mind, and the sudden lack of his darker half’s voice hit him harder than the jab to the chest had.

Yugi startled as a whistle cut across the clearing, the unarmed man of the duo waving his arms towards an approaching horse. It was a chestnut stallion, kicking up sand as it raced closer, a trio of black hooded riders close behind. It took less than a minute for the horses to reach them, and Yugi scooted back as the two men standing over him dropped to one knee, heads bowed, as the first rider dropped from his steed.

He recognized him instantly. 

“Yami?” Yugi said. His shoulders sagged in relief. He wasn’t alone. Yami was here with him. He would know how to get out of this and get them both home.

Yami stalked towards him, a cape whipping behind as he crossed the sand. He was dressed in traditional Egyptian garb, bands of gold encircling his arms, neck, and calves. The real stunner, however, was the Millennium Puzzle hanging from his neck, catching the light of the sun in burning gleam.

Yugi touched his own puzzle hanging from his neck. _Two Millennium Puzzles?_ He staggered to his feet, legs numb from waking in such an awkward angle. Wiping the sand crusted to his arms, he moved to meet Yami halfway. “Hey!” he said as Yami drew closer. “What is going on? Where are we?”

His yami was silent as he reached him, leaving an arm’s length between them as he stared at him. Yugi squinted, taking in the other boy’s unusual appearance, noting how much tanner Yami looked than him, an odd sight being as their normally shared body spent most of the time cramped in school or the shop, far away from sunlight.

“Yami?” Yugi said. Yami’s hand snapped out, gripping his chin as his eyes bore into his. The panic resurged in Yugi’s stomach. Yami was looking at him like he had never seen him before. “Are you okay?”

Silence was his answer.

“Yami?” Yugi said. He tried to step back, but frowned as Yami followed suit, keeping his grip. “Can you let me go?”

Yami didn’t release him as he turned his head towards to the two men still kneeling in the sand beside them. His voice was hard as he said something in the same foreign language the man had been using earlier. The men shot to their feet, scrambling across the sand to the horses and trio of riders waiting several feet away.

“What language is that? Arabic?” Yugi said. He leaned back as Yami stepped closer, narrowing the space until there was only inches between them. “Hey – woah. What are you doing?”

Another string of foreign words came out of Yami’s mouth, gentler this time and directed his way. Crimson eyes met his as Yami’s hand moved to cup his face, eyes softening as he looked at him. Butterflies kicked in Yugi’s stomach, goosebumps raising on his arms despite the heat of the sun beating down on them.

“You’re not Yami,” Yugi said. It was only a whisper, but he could almost see the gears turning in the look-alike’s brain in front of him, struggling to decipher the words. Either it was all some practical joke or this Yami didn’t speak Japanese, which meant that this Yami wasn’t his Yami at all.

He was trapped in the middle of the desert with the other half of his soul centuries before they’d actually met. This Yami had never known the blessing of air condition, the screech of a metro car, the rainbow of pixels as a duel monster formed on the playing field – this Yami was the ruler of ancient Egypt – Pharaoh Atem.

Yugi let out a long breath. _This is so messed up._

Another soft string of words came from Atem’s lips, and Yugi’s stomach fluttered as the pharaoh’s thumb began to stroke his cheek. The intimacy of the action threw him. Yami never touched him like this. The other half of his soul was protective and kind, but he had never expressed anything but a deep devotion of loyalty, platonic to the core.

The nature of their relationship had never bothered Yugi at first; after all, he’d spent the majority of his teenage years devoting his energy trying to get Anzu to give him a second glance. Recently though, with their enemies defeated and halfway through his first semester of university, Yami had begun erecting barriers between them.

It had started as a subtle divide, a few thoughts being blocked from his conscious here and there before progressing to hours without feeling Yami’s mind against his. In the puzzle, the other half of his soul had started keeping his physical distance as well, and the once casual touches between them had become nonexistent.

Yugi had tried to convince himself that it didn’t matter. Sure, Yami was the other half of his soul, but he deserved his privacy. However, as the weeks had begun to pass and the absence of his partner became more pronounced, anxiety began crawling under Yugi’s skin as he realized he missed him – a lot – more than a lot– more than the boundaries of a platonic relationship allowed.

Atem’s free hand slid over his shoulder, and Yugi froze, blinking up at the pharaoh in front of him. What had been inches between them had become centimeters. He had never been so close to Yami. His heart pounded in his throat as the pharaoh leaned closer.

Warm lips touched his, and Yugi reared back on instinct, pressing against Atem’s shoulders, head buzzing from the momentary contact. _That was…_ Atem brushed his hands aside, stepping closer and wrapping an arm around his torso as he pulled him into his chest. The pharaoh’s free hand cupped the back of his head, and he leaned forward once more, touching their lips together.

Yugi’s hands were limp at his side, eyes wide as Atem touched his tongue to his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He was kissing Yami – no – Atem. He was sweaty, sunburned, and kissing the pharaoh of ancient Egypt, and it felt…good. He grabbed the linen of Atem’s shirt, closing his eyes as the pharaoh’s hand drifted lower down his back, pressing him closer.

He gasped as Atem rolled his hips against his, blood pulsing southbound as Atem’s tongue touched his. God, it felt good. Yugi pressed closer winding his arms around Atem’s neck. All the distance – it didn’t matter. Yami was here with him now. He wanted this as much as he did.

 _But, he’s not Yami_. The thought was a bucket of ice water over Yugi’s head. Atem may technically be his yami, but he was not the man he had shared a mind with for the past four years. He was a stranger to him. Yugi turned his head, though his erection continued to pulse as Atem kissed his neck, moving down to his shoulder.

“We can’t – ” He broke off with a sharp inhale as Atem’s hand brushed down the front of his pajama pants, tracing the length of his penis between his thumb and forefinger. Yugi clamped down on the pharaoh’s wrist as he fingers reached to slip beyond the elastic of his waist. “No.” He shook his head, the movement deliberate. They may not have spoken the same language, but his message was clear. No more.

Atem frowned, attempting to free his hand, and letting out a sigh as he refused to release his wrist. It was a long beat before the pharaoh drew back his hand, eyes narrowed as he stared down at him, gaze wondering to the puzzle hanging around his neck. He studied the gold for a moment before reaching out his hand, fingers skimming the Millennium Eye emblazoned there.

A shudder rolled down Yugi’s spine as he felt another consciousness brush against his. It was a familiar pressure in his mind, and for a split moment, he hoped that it was Yami, still with him. The thoughts that spilled through him, however, were foreign, a sharp tangle of vowels that he couldn’t even begin to decipher. It was Atem feeding into a bond that he and Yami had forged centuries in the future – the presence of his mind almost identical.

It would be so easy to close his eyes and just pretend it was Yami standing in front of him. His throat tightened as Atem clasped his shoulder, reality settling in. He was lightyears away from his life – his friends, school, Yami – and his soul was exposed to a man he’d never even met, who didn’t even speak his language. Tears blurred in his eyes. _Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry._ He sucked down a breath. He could figure this out.

This kind of magic wasn’t random. He’d landed himself in ancient Egypt for a reason – he just had to figure out why.

Atem offered another slew of soft words, and Yugi stared at him, wishing to any supreme being who would listen to grant him the gift of fluency in ancient Arabic. How was he supposed to figure anything out if no one understood a word he was saying?

He tripped forward as Atem’s fingers locked around his wrist, pulling him towards the horses. The men who had discovered him were gone, leaving only the cloaked riders that had arrived with Atem. Yugi filled his lungs with the desert air, as Atem called out to the men, leading him away from the ruins, the sun beating down as he began to plot his way home.


End file.
